King's Cross gas landmark may bounce back as a giant trampoline

A trampoline and a slide are among the ideas shortlisted to transform a disused Victorian gas holder near St Pancras station.

The 67-acre site is being redeveloped as part of a facelift that has brought the Eurostar to north London and converted the Victorian station into a £100million hotel and apartments.

Although decommissioned in the Eighties, the 25-metre high Gas Holder Number Eight, overlooking the Regent's Canal, is Grade II-listed and cannot be dismantled.

The King's Cross Central Limited Partnership, which owns the land, held a competition to decide the 1850s structure's future. It received 80 entries, from which a shortlist of five was chosen for the £2.5million project.

One concept includes a giant slide to take visitors around the edges of the gas holder and a rooftop trampoline to allow people to bounce high above King's Cross. The trampoline's base would form the roof of a community centre below. The scheme's designer Tarek Merlin, of Feix and Merlin in Southwark, said: "We wanted people to experience the holders up front, up close and at height."

The shortlist also includes a proposal by Hakes Associates for a giant silver ball to act as a mirror in the middle of the gas holder. Also in the running is an events venue with gardens and a proposal for a "serene" pavilion and landscaped green space. Ian Lerner, of the King's Cross Conservation Area Advisory Committee, said: "It has to provide a focal point and be used to make sure people stay in the area in the evenings."

Bridget Evans, of the King's Cross partnership's parent company Argent, said: "The gas holders are an important reminder of industrial past. It's exciting that we can blend a new idea with such an important heritage feature." The winner will be named next month.